painting gold

[sonia666]

hi all
iv been painting for a long time but had had a break for the hobby for about the past 3 years the problem im having at present is that no matter which gold i choose to paint with it always is very thin and has very poor coverage. so far i have tried the new gw gehennas gold army painters gold and greedy gold and now i just bought myself some vallejo old gold as i was told they have the best coverage. i should point out that i only am painting gw models at the present and iv have tried to base the area with brown first as i found on the internet somewhere i also use black and white primers for my models depending on the overall colour scheme.

please can anyone share there tips on how they get there's to cover nice and smooth with good coverage

 

[QuietiManes]

Red is the common basecoat for gold. But, as always, coverage comes after you build up the layers, it's no different with metallics. You do need to spend more time mixing them and making sure they're ready to go though.

 

[TrystanGST]

As Quieti pointed out, layers. Very few paints will give a complete cover in one go, and honestly if they do you've probably laid it on too thick.

 

[MAXXxxx]

as the ones before me: multiple thin layers.

but 2 'tricks' for gold:
- paint boltgun / chainmail first. It covers a lot better and because of metallicgrey won't interfere much with the final color
- paint a mix of gold+brown first. Covers a lot better and can be used as the deepest shadow if you don't use different glazes at the end.

M.

 

[RuneBrush]

Personally - basecoat of GW's Balthasar Gold (good coverage and solid base colour), highlight with the gold colour of your choice, wash with a brown wash and then rehighlight with your choice of gold, you'll want to thin the paints down a little to ensure they paint on in a couple of layers (rather than one thick gloopy one). This should give you quite a solid and smooth gold colour. If you want a really rich colour you can also do some thin washes of purple and green.

 

[Einion]

Lots of yellow metallics do have so-so coverage, and like the same problem in any area one of the main workarounds is to undercoat in something of a similar colour that is more opaque.

Back when I had this problem (the only gold paint I had wouldn't cover worth a damn when thinned enough not to leave brushmarks) I'd often undercoat the gold areas in a dull yellow or ochre colour; but even over black you would get solid coverage if you applied a sufficient number of coats... just had to make sure the previous one was properly dry before painting the next, so having a hairdryer on hand was a must.

Einion

 

[Roktman]

I haven't had the need to paint gold myself, but I have seen other base coat in a brown and then give it a coat of the V. Old Gold. You can then top coat it in the bright gold of your choice.